Category Archives: Terrorism

Messing with Sri Lanka

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

It was the early 1980s when, as I recall, Anton Balasingham, “foreign minister” of the “Tamil Eelam” walked into my office, and vehemently protested a piece I had written warning of the dangers of being sucked into the Sri Lankan … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, guerilla warfare, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Politics, Internal Security, South Asia, Terrorism | 3 Comments

Root of trouble: Article 370

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Dipping political fortunes amidst an economic downturn in the run-up to the 2014 general election and the fear of Narendra Modi galvanising the majority community with charges against the Congress Party coalition government of softness towards terrorists led to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 13 Comments

Rogue Triad and H-Bomb Tests

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on February 3 that a third nuclear test by North Korea was imminent at its Punggye test site in the Hamgyong Mountain range in the northeastern part of that country adjoining the Chinese Jiangsu … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Technology transfer, Terrorism, United States, US., West Asia | 10 Comments

U.S. Wrong on India’s Iran Policy

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

[This is almost a year old, but may still be of interest. The piece reproduced here was published in ‘The Diplomat’ out of Washington on March 19, 2012.] India has been criticized for not doing enough to pressure Iran. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, indian policy -- Israel, Iran and West Asia, Indian Politics, Internal Security, nonproliferation, Pakistan, Relations with Russia, Russia, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US. | 4 Comments

Baser Instincts at the Border

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The beheading of Lance Naik Hemraj of the Rajputana Rifles, confirmed by the Army Chief General Bikram Singh on January 14, is an act that strays beyond incomprehensibility and into the area of the unfathomably egregious. The habit of mutilating … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Terrorism, United States, US. | 1 Comment

What to do about Pakistan

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

In the wake of the beheading of a slain Indian soldier by 29 Baloch Regiment regulars on the ceasefire line, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, warned about “other options”, implying something stronger by way of … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, China, civil-military relations, Great Power imperatives, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Ocean, nonproliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Special Forces, Terrorism, United States | 15 Comments

Redefining India-Pakistan Relations

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Pakistan faces a dissimilar set of existential threats. The sole external threat is clear enough — India. The more alarming threats are internal — regional-aspirational in terms of separatist/secessionist movements (in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan), and of ethnic-regional assertion (Sindh, the Muttahida … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 22 Comments

Don’t talk Charlie Browne, act!

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

COAS and chairman, chiefs of staff committee, ACM “Charlie” Browne, for no reason that makes sense, thundered that stronger actions may be resorted to to maintain the sanctity of the ceasefire. For god’s sake, if the military or GOI mean to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Terrorism | 4 Comments

Pakistan army’s penchant for mutilation and how to deal with it

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

It is either a serious breach of discipline, or it is implementation of a considered policy by the Pakistan army High Command. In either case, it reflects poorly on the Pakistan Army that, until Partition in 1947, was part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, India's Pakistan Policy, Indian Army, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Special Forces, Terrorism | 16 Comments

Nuclear warnings

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Bharat Karnad

Bharat Karnad The Indian government rarely heeds warnings, does not prepare for the worst and when the storm hits, flaps about helplessly and reaches for straws to save itself. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Bill Clinton administration came … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Politics, Missiles, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Strategic Forces Command, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US. | 1 Comment